Off Kilter
by Focid
Summary: DracoXGinny. More adventure that actual romance. Summary is ontop of the first chapter!
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: ****Lord Voldemort hasn't come back yet. Everyone thinks he's dead. Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Draco are all in their 7th year. They're almost done with Hogwarts, without a single struggle with you-know-who. But things are changing. Students wake up raving about The Lord and his return. Teachers are disappearing, owls no longer bring mail, and Draco is finally trying to tell Ginny about those feelings he's kept hidden from her for too many years. The outcome? No one will ever know.**

**Remember Read, Review, and Enjoy :)**

Draco

Okay, so what time is running out? So what it's seventh year, and I'm yet to summon up the courage to do what I so crave (and fear)? So what Potter and friends hate me, thus making my goal close to impossible? So what the only girl I'm relatively interested in is one of the few who despise me? I'm Draco Malfoy, I'll live.

The way Potter, Granger, and Weasley go on about it, you'd think I'd been uncivil from the start… For the most part, they're right (for once). Granger, Weasley and I have all hated each other for quite a while. But, I tried to befriend that Potter, show him around. But no, he'd already sunk too low for me to help him. He preferred that Weasley's company over mine!

From day one, he's hated me, and I him. We don't dislike, we hate. In some ways, I'm glad the only time we are really on opposite sides is during Quidditch. We may be in different houses, but we're in the same school. Were we any more different, there'd probably be more than the few true scuffles we've had over the years. Though, had we been truly on opposite sides, in the way I'm thinking, it'd have been the death of one of us.

Harry has really truly defeated the Dark Lord. For this, I'm grateful. The way Mother and Father rant on about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is tiresome, and almost scary. I can hardly imagine what would have happened if the Dark Lord had risen. If Harry hadn't killed the evil lord, I'd have had to kill Harry (or someone else… who knows?)

Pfft, I've got to stop brooding over such useless ideas. I've got a plan, and I'll make sure It'll get done… no matter what. Who am I kidding? I act all tough, but we all know I can't do it! … Wait, here come Ginny, maybe she's a sign there can be hope?

-

Draco looks up and smirks. He stands and stretches. Some girl he can't see sighs. Despite the fact it's more than likely she wasn't sighing over him, it boosts his confidence.

He saunters over to the Ginny. She is busy talking with friends. A giggle is cut short as she notices Draco, and she stiffens. However, the stopping of her giggle, and her stiffening is so subtle and small, not even her friends who are right next to her notice.

Draco watches as she glances at him, not hostilely, but far from friendly. He nods, and walks near her, on the way to the same class as her. He was lucky, or rather: he had enough money in his pocket, to 'happen' to almost all his classes with her. Luckily, Ginny is almost as smart as he is, aka very very smart for a kid her age, so his being in her classes didn't make him seem dumb.

"Ginny," he drawls, "How does it feel to know that you're smart enough to be in some classes typically meant for seventh years?" at this, her eyes brightened because they were getting close to a topic she liked. "Or, rather, how do you like getting the honor of being in some of my classes?" At this, she scowled, turned her head, and resumed her conversation with her classmates. With a shrug, he hurries by, careful not to let her see that he is mildly frustrated.

**I'm doing these first two chapters to introduce you to the thought processes of Ginny and Draco, and then we'll get to the plot. BTW: if you like dramione fanfics, go read Ridiculous by Amazing Tofu, and/or Can't Help Falling In Love With You by: Dramione96.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't have much to say apart from: Read, Review, and Enjoy :) **

Ginny

I'm a sixth year taking seventh year classes. I'm struggling, trying not to be overwhelmed. Luckily, Hermione is here to help me learn the sixth year courses and keep up with the seventh year courses in my spare time. Honestly, I'm not a bookworm. I'm not as smart as Hermione, but people think I am. Nor am I a popular girl. Nor am I a quiet girl. I guess you could call me average.

Maybe not average, because I hang out with Harry. His group is… interesting to say the least. He has a bit of fame, but he wears it like a travel cloak. It's so worn and old, people almost don't see it. Maybe not average because I'm a muggle sympathizer. I love how ingenious they are, and sometimes, I try those contraptions out as well. Maybe not average, because I don't not like Draco, but neither do I like him.

Draco… what an interesting subject. He's a snobbish stuck up brat that thinks he owns the world, but hey, there are a lot of people like him. He's never done anything but throw a few insults, but hey, who really gives a crap about his insults? He's not nice, but he's not bad either. I lean closer to disliking him than actually liking him, but hey, he probably feels the same way as well.

-

Ginny walks down the corridors with her two friends, content to let their chatter wash over her. She occasionally gives an opinion on a cloak, or a broom that is on sale, but that's it.

A flash of brilliant gold and a sigh draws her attention to Draco. He's smirking… that can't be good. She stifles a frown. She watches as he draws closer, and seems to loom above her. Amazingly enough, no stab at her lack of wealth, or red hair is made. In fact, he tries to be pleasant by making small talk. AAANNND… he fails. Of course he has to turn it back to his 'oh so glorious self'.

Ginny turns back to her friends and continues her conversation "hey, do you know what I think…." She lets out a small sigh of relief when Draco sweeps by.

**I swear that this'll be the last pitifully short chapter in this story. I just wanted to get this up so I could actually start the plot. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, here it is. It's not as long as I'd like it to be, and I'm sorry it's taken so long, but I've been kept busy with school work and plus I've procrastinated… but yeah… So, Read, Review, and Enjoy :)**

Draco

The roar of hundreds of students talking and eating dinner in the Great Hall washes over Draco. He picks at his food, ignoring the prattling of Pansy and the grunts of Crabbe and Goyle as they eat. He glances around and finds Blaise, who is sitting a bit away. Their eyes meet, and they both nod. Casually, Blaise stands up and strolls out of the hall. Maybe five minutes later, Draco stands up, and leaves.

The only one who notices both of the boy's departure is Pansy, who thinks to herself: _when both of those two go missing, something always happens… what could they be up to?_

-

Blaise looks up when Draco saunters towards him. They nod, still not having exchanged a single word. Together, they steal away, up several flights of stairs, to an unlit room. The window is flung open, and a Eurasian Eagle Owl soars in and lands on Draco's outstretched arm. It is large, even for its kind.

Blaise, clearly impressed, whistles lowly and says "So is this what you wanted to show me?"

Draco grins and says "Nope, but she'll be important to reaching my goal. See, I've trained her to fly back to the place I've released her after she delivers and or takes a message. Also, I've taught her to wait for a few days in the general area. Because of this, if someone tracks her, she'll just wait around for days, and hopefully, they'll leave. Also, no one but you knows that she's my owl, so I can send messages anonymously."

Blaise looks at Draco for a moment, then says "What exactly IS you plan?" Draco blushes slightly, then mutters something incoherently. "What's that?" Blaise taunts, having a feeling he knows what his friend's goal is.

Draco snarls and glares at the tall olive-skinned teen in front of him. "I'm in love with Ginny, and I want to make her love me back."

Obviously, it is not the answer Blaise expected. He splutters and replies "The blood traitor? Bloody hell Draco, I know she's good looking, but you've got to keep in mind that associating with her would ruin your reputation!"

Draco snaps back "Even you admit she's nice looking! You of all people! I know she's a muggle-lover, but she's got a nice personality," Draco pauses and mutters the next part under his breath "when she's not snapping at me…"

Blaise stares at Draco with his mouth hanging open. "What's gotten into you?" he inquires, "I was expecting you to say you liked someone else, or that you wanted to blow something up, or maybe even for you to admit that you need my help with something."

Draco's head flies up at Blaise's talk. His grey eyes glinted colder than steel "Did you just suggest that I, Draco Malfoy, would need help?"

Blaise laughs. He's known Draco for a while, and has gotten use to his pompous attitude. "Don't think that glaring at me will do anything. Also, try to stop interrupting your sentences with 'I, Draco Malfoy,'. It get's rather tiresome, and makes you sound like a stuck up son of a bitch."

Blaise's insulting him, even jokingly, is too much to handle. Draco tosses his owl out the window, so she can hunt for the night and establish a place to sleep for the day, and then sweeps out of the room. Blaise watches halfway amused as Draco storms off like a little kid about to pitch a fit.

-

Instead of heading back to the Great Hall, Draco storms through the halls, down towards the dungeons, into the Slytherin common room, up the stairs, to his bed. With a flick of his wand, the curtains around his bed close. He mutters "Accio secret box." A small box appears with a pop out of thin air, and zooms to his outstretched hand. With quiet reverence, he undoes the latch and lifts the top open. The box, small enough to fit in his palm, is filled with a few small tokens. A necklace broken chain that used to belong to Ginny, a small picture of her, and a piece of wood that had chipped off her wand a year ago lay nestled in the satin lining of the box. Draco daintily plucks the picture out of the box, and gazes at it. Ginny sits on a bench, laughing. He'd found this laying in the Great Hall this year, it'd probably been taken by a friend, and dropped. Silently, he strokes her face, and puts the picture back in its place. A quiet command sends the box out of sight.

If he were to keep the box out even a few seconds later, he'd have had some explaining to do, because, exactly three seconds after he puts the box away, who should march in but Pansy. Draco rolls his eyes, and decides not to say anything insulting to the girl.

"Draco," Pansy starts off, "Why exactly did you and Blaise leave the Great Hall and not come back?"

Draco looks up, surprised that she didn't start prattling about nothing of importance. He clears his throat and says "How'd you know where to find me? And how the HELL did you get in here? I'm pretty sure I locked that door…"

Pansy snorts and replies "I didn't, I just looked." Of course, this is a lie. Pansy knows because she pays attention to what her friends do. She doesn't tell the truth because she is a Slytherin, and she's a lot slyer than people think, and she'd rather not have people actually think she's smart. If they did, that'd make finding information so much harder. She continues speaking and says "I was able to get here because I walked… you know, up the stairs. And no, you didn't lock the door." That makes her lie total up to two. I bet you can tell which one is the truth.

Draco heaves a sigh and asks "Okay, so why did you come looking for me?"

Pansy smiles and gushes "Because you left, and the only other two people to talk with were Crabbe and Goyle. They don't talk that much when they eat." Pansy pouts and lays her hand on Draco's shoulder. "Please please please come back to the Great Hall with me and let's eat!"

Draco stretches and stands. He shakes his head to get his hair out of his eyes. "Fine." He grumbles, and lets Pansy pull him away to the Great Hall.

The candles in the Great Hall cast a soft glow, looking almost like the stars on the ceiling and the real ones visible from the huge windows. The buzz of students is beginning to make Draco sleepy, and Pansy's blathering makes him grind his teeth. He glances over the crowd, looking at the place where Ginny typically sits. However, the flash of her copper hair is absent, and so are her friends. Draco musses, and continues combing through the crowd , wondering where she is. Finally, two red heads, a frizzy brown one and a shaggy black one bob through the crowd and settle at the table. Draco is mildly surprised and thinks to himself: _It looks like Blaise and I weren't the only ones who decided to leave for a bit… I wonder what those four were up to._

**Luna Rell: Thanks for being the first one to review my story. You deserve a cookie! ^_^**

**Sarcasma: I'm glad to know others like DracoXGinny stories too. :) I'll be sure to check out the site.**

**Amazing Tofu: Thank you. You deserve the mention; your story is really good, funny… and Amazing. :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, if you are still following my story, and you are reading this, thank you so much for your patience. I'll let you get to the story, so… Read, Review, and Enjoy. :)**

As Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny stroll back into the Great Hall, Ginny can't help but feel someone is watching her. She pauses and looks around, wondering if a friend is trying to get her attention. When she sees no one, she shrugs and trots to catch up with her friends.

"I can't believe it, I just can't believe it!" Ron exclaims.

"Oh leave off it Ron." Hermione snaps as she gently socks the ginger.

"Hermione, I swear, you've done that so many times, I bet I'm bruised. If I am, you can be that I wi-" Ron begins, only to be cut off.

"Or you'll do what? Will you run to your mommy or will you curl into a fetal position and cry?" The bushy haired girl taunts.

"Oi, I never said I'd run crying to my mum!" Ron splutters, his face flushed with fury.

Ginny pushes herself between Ron and Hermione and says "Ron, calm down, just because Fred and Geo-"

"FRED AND GEORGE ARE THE REASON WE'RE IN TH-" Ron bellows before being cut off because Harry has put his hand over his mouth. Harry pushes Ron down to sit on the bench at the table.

Once seated, Ginny glares at Ron."Stop interrupting people!" She snaps before continuing "As I was saying, just because Fred and George sent us that … package with all those… those…" Ginny trails off, not knowing what to call the items inside the package without giving away what they are.

Hermione steps in continues where Ginny had trailed off "I think what Ginny is trying to say is that just because the twins sent us those little souvenirs from their business, and just because things didn't go as they had planned, that doesn't mean you have to be so irritated with them."

Harry looks up, and his emerald eyes flash, sending a slight shiver down Ginny's spine. She'd rarely seen him greatly upset, but this time, he is quite furious, and his trying to hide his anger makes her all the more nervous. He shifts his gaze towards Hermione and quietly says "Ron's right, their pranks are typically funny, but this, this is not right."

Ron, who has been quiet for a while, looks up, quite pale. "Oh no…" he moans "We're… no… I, I'm doomed. Mum's going to have a cow when she hears about this, and I don't think she'll believe me when I try to tell her that it was the twins."

"… You're right, Mum is going to murder us." Ginny says.

Hermione pats Ginny's back "I'll be sure to help you. Between the four of us, I'm sure we have enough brains to find a way to get back at the twins and prove to everyone it was them instead of us."

Harry smiles, albeit slightly grimly. "You're right Hermione, we can, we will, or we're going to be eaten by one of Hagrid's beasts." He good naturedly punches Ron in the arm, not realizing it is the one that Hermione had been punching repeatedly before. Ron half manages to dodge, but slams into Hermione, who in turn slams into Ginny, who is then pushed off the bench.

She lands, but not on anything hard. Surprised, she looks down to see that she hasn't exactly landed on the ground. Someone has cast a spell that stopped the hard collision between her backside and the ground. She gets back up and sits down "Wow, thanks Harry, that was quick thinking." She chirps. Upon being given an odd look, she turns to Hermione "Thank you."

"I didn't cast any spell, and I know for a fact you brother didn't." Hermione replies.

"… Then who did?" Ginny says. The magical layer that was between her and the floor had disappeared, and Ginny looks around, wondering where it went, and who cast it.

Before she could really look around, the several owls arrive, seeming to signal the start of the flood of owls that should come. However, seconds, then minutes pass, and no more owls arrive.

Ginny, was distracted by the owls and had momentarily forgotten her fall. She'd started to eat, and half into her meal, she stops to see if Harry receives any mail from Hagrid. However, something is wrong, and Hedwig, who typically stops in, doesn't. It seems as if she isn't alone, for many other people still look around wondering why their owls haven't come.

Small pieces of conversations float around Ginny and her friends, and most seem to sound about the same.

"Where's my owl?"

"That stupid owl must have gone off course!"

"But today's a beautiful day, there hasn't been bad weather in a while! Where's my-"

"He never veers off course, even in bad weather. Is something wrong?"

"A package was due to come today, and I need it desperately!"

"Oh, I do hope she comes soon, I really need to send a letter to my cousin!" Conversations continue, all seeming to focus around the missing owls. Even by the end of the meal, the talk is still buzzing about the lack of mail.

Harry looks at Hermione, Ron, and Ginny before saying "The meal's almost over. I don't know where Hedwig is, but I plan on finding her." With that, he stands up and pushes through a crowd, trying to get out of the Great Hall.

"Blimey, I don't think that Hedwig has ever not shown up with mail." Ron mutters. "You know, I think I'll go help Harry look around."

Hermione looks up to talk to Ron. However, he has already rushed away. Turing to Ginny, Hermione sighs and says "There's no use going right now, if you look, most of the people who haven't gotten their owls are trying to leave. The crowd trying to get out of those doors is immense, and the boys probably won't be able to get out until the meal is over."

Ginny nods "Your right…"

"Ginny, ever since you were pushed off the bench, you haven't said a single thing. Why in the world are you sulking?" Hermione inquires.

Her dignity stung, Ginny looks up with a scowl "I'm not sulking, I'm thinking. You honestly don't think that I'm such a brat that I'd be mad because I was accidently pushed off the bench, do you?"

"If not that, what's wrong?"

"… I dunno Hermione, I don't know at all. I've got this feeling that something is up and I don't know what it could be. You, Ron, nor Harry cast that spell that cushioned me, and I know I didn't. If not any one of you, then who? Also, Why the heck are the owls missing? As if that's not enough, I keep feeling like I'm being watched."

Hermione looks concerned "Well, you could just be paranoid, it's probably just another secret admirer, or maybe you imagined it. As for the owls, I feel a bit worried about that as well. Maybe, the-"

Before Hermione can continue, all the candles that float in the air splutter. A bone chilling wind blows through the air and makes the candles go out, leaving the Hall in total darkness.


End file.
